Traditional feminine hygiene protection generally comes from two sources, i.e., either sanitary napkins or tampons. Each of these sources suffer from certain disadvantages.
The sanitary napkins are designed to be worn externally and as such they are susceptible to failure due to mispositioning or shifting of the napkin during use. Because sanitary napkins are to be worn externally, they may be visible under certain types of clothing. Also, they are relatively bulky and therefore require a certain amount of storage.
Tampons, on the other hand, are substantially smaller in size because they are designed to be worn internally. Tampons also, however, suffer from certain disadvantages. Depending upon the particular tampon, there are difficulties associated with insertion and removal as well as the psychological repugnance faced by certain women over vaginal insertion.
Several attempts have been made in the past to produce a so-called interlabial pad which would combine the best features of tampons and napkins while avoiding at least some of the disadvantages associated with each. Interlabial pads are designed to be positioned between the vaginal labia and adjacent the vaginal entroitus. While several patents have issued in this area, they have been unsuccessful for a variety of reasons ranging from difficulty of manufacture to discomfort and malfunction in use. Interpreting the definition of interlabial pads broadly, a list of relevant U.S. patents are:
U.S. Pat. No. 24,137, Jacks PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 24,385, Flaudus PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 271,625, Goff PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,833, Lelley PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,123,750, Schulz PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,328,795, Finks PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,331,355, Strongson PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,344, Milton PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,381, Brown PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,676,594, Milcent PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,875, Brown PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,822, Leupold PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,049, Delaney PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,648, Dupuis PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,909, Roehr PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,689, Hicks et al PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,234, Phelps PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,235, Harmon PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,422, Hodas PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,321, Hirschman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,277, Hirschman PA1 British No. 754,481, Neumann PA1 British No. 855,537, Rybar PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,372, Denkinger PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,873, Hirschman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,542, Hirschman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,476, Hirschman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,561, Hirschman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,562, Hirschman
The three patents of most relevance to the subject invention are believed to be U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,873; 2,771,882; and 3,905,372. U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,882 teaches the longitudinal folding of a pad blank along a central axis while U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,905,372 and 3,983,873 disclose a pad having a raised central area.